Weekend Workshop

This weekend I had fever, and also an amazing workshop.

Have been anticipating this workshop for a month or so. It was led by one of the prominent figures in the world of Strengthening and Stretching, although she hailed from a strong Yoga background. The workshop ran for 2 hours each on Saturday and Sunday. I've been prepping myself for the workshop by practicing some of the poses that I thought she would have on the class, just so I wouldn't have a hard time working on it.

The Saturday class started off with the normal series of poses, all which were too familiar for me yet under her breathing instructions I was struggling. She had asked all of us on our injuries and our rehabilitation goals and silently she worked the class adjusting our poses; opening our hips, chests, torso, etc. For the past few months I have been nursing this sore and tender pain at the fold of my left thigh which now I know to be called as Pectineus Muscle and they tend to flare up during a particularly active week. It is also affecting the nerves at the back of my leg, especially in poses where I have to do a deep squat. In the workshop while I was doing a Fish Pose with a Lotus, she came over and pressed down on my left knee, saying that my left hip is tight. And THAT is the reason behind every single aches and pains of my left leg. In the fight between the knees and hips, the hips will always win and this tightness in my left hip causes the my left knee to rotate unnaturally. Hence, knee pain.

Ever since I've been doing the SS class religiously, I've noticed that all other sports sorta takes the backseat. Previously, I balanced running, swimming and cycling together to create a harmonious effect - swimming for my breathing, running for my stamina and endurance and cycling for strength - but after being hooked to the simple systems of SS I find that I get all three including flexibility. Of course, you can't replace the sheer extremeness of speed workouts of running in this, but you do get very very sweaty, and tired, in SS. If I tried doing the complete one series (which is about 40++ poses), it would take me about 2 hours, and that is minus 10+ poses I couldn't do yet.

Anyway, the reason I was mulling about it is that I've signed up for yet another running event this month. I haven't been running since MPSJ. I do get worried since it is a hilly route, and to think that I've stopped all other forms of exercise. I am not worried about my fitness base; I worry on sustaining the speed I set for the timing I want. If I didn't have any expectations, I wouldn't even bother. I guess it's either to start running or stop having expectations.

Till the next time, or run, or swim or cycle or SS!

T-2 days

Can you tell that I am excited? Probably because it is the first event in this year. It's not a big event, more to a small neighborhood run, but nevertheless I am looking forward to run with the crowd.

Bad news is, my left knee is feeling the pain. Oh well, old stuff, isn't it. Truth to be told I'm sort of used to it. I had planned to run last thursday and monday but since the pain was there I decided to not risk it and concentrated on some other cardio. The last thing I need is to hobble in pain the whole of Sunday run. That will not be a great first event of the year.

Today during SS class we made a whole lot of good progress. I am particularly proud of myself for getting this far. The most obvious improvements are the fact that my upper body strength has doubled and my hamstrings are not tight anymore. I am also much more energized and aware of my physical abilities and limitations in running, cycling, etc. Ok, I sound like I am in a cult.

So to compensate for not running for the looming event, I plan to:

1) swim (this benefits my cardio)

2) light cycling on light gears (this will just prepare my legs - or it can aggravate the knee.)

We'll see how it goes!

Good bit: At the end of the SS class, the instructor told us to forgive someone we never even think of forgiving, that perhaps, by forgiving that person, we can focus our concentration instead to get better in our sports. What a good piece of advice!

Running Withdrawal

"Let's talk about stress.

It is defined as a ratio of force per area.

Stress is when your muscles clench up, usually between your shoulder blades. It also applies to when you pronounce a word even longer and more defined than normal, more often than not to imply that the situation is serious. 

In everyday life, you stress out conversations to emphasize meanings. A stress test in material science determines which material is stronger by not showing signs of straining first. Stress to civil engineers is a computer software - STRuctual Engineering Systems Solver. What lucky fools. In the world of fashion, when you 'stress' your jeans, it means that you dragged some rough materials over them to achieve that semi-frayed, distressed look.

In an academic setting, stress has many possibilites. It could mean staying up all night blinking in the dark, going through equations. It results in either rapid weight loss or alarming weight gain. Hair turns gray. PMS cycles are frequent, sometimes faked. You body resorts to causing pain to alert yourself that your systems are frazzled. 

Stress: The gift that keeps on giving."

 I wrote that 3 years ago, when I was a student and dying over my final exams. Engineering was a tough course; sports was the only way I get to unleash all that wound up feelings. Studying after a great run, or running after a great studying session, both were rewarding. I get so tired to think afterwards.

 My knees still hurt. It hurts when I walk down the stairs. They throb for no reason when I watch the television. I eat medication like candy; I am on one everyday for the rest of my life from now on. My knees is more fucked up than Bart Simpson...

 On my calendar at work, today is my running day. I'm supposed to do a short 3.5km of speedwork, running in intervals of RPE 8 for 200m, 400m then 20 seconds more. It's a shoddy speedwork, but it gets my amateur heart pumping. I would be hating the warm up run. I would long to go straight home and read books. I would want to stop.

 Bet you don't know what you've got till it's gone. 

 I'm not having such a great week, even though its only Tuesday. My new job requires me to recall back technical terms I have left in second year. My new colleagues are friendly, but distant, of course, like all new colleagues are. I'm also juggling with some sort of a personal issue that defines adulthood. I'm worried and stressed almost all the time now. I miss running, getting my heart pumped like I'm about to die. I miss feeling awesome even for seconds. I'm feeling horrible and stressed all the time now. 

 Mizuno wave run is this Sunday. I was very looking forward to it because it would be the first race I would be running with my dad officially. My dad is very excited; his first race with an official t-shirt and all. He told me he's been upping his mileage now. I didn't have the heart to tell him I can only hobble to work. 

 The doctor that I went to told me, "Some people aren't born to be runners." He is talking about my legs, their bone structure, apparently I have this genetic bow-legged that was the sole reason why my knees hurt even when I play bowling. The x-rays of my knees were stark and scary - almost too honest and blunt - the wear on my left knee plus the obvious bow-leggedness that I only noticed then. 

 But. I'm still going to run. Maybe not now, but definitely after recovering.

 Anyway, that's a picture of me against the Macchapuchre Mt, fondly dubbed as Mt Fishtail by the locals. This was the first day of the hike.

 

Pokhara, Nepal

I am writing from Pokhara, nepal, a cowboy town where most treks (basically being annapurna) start and end. I just finished my 10 days of trekking yesterday, and for the time being I am GLAD that it's over. My knees hurt beyond oblivion, my thighs are sore to a point where it hurts to even touch them and forget about my feet, they look like blisters have migrated and dominated the region. Yesterday was the last part of our trek, and it was one of the worst days ever basically because I am mentally and physically tired already after walking straight for 10 days. Not just walking... but climbing uphill and running downhill for the most part... all while carrying a 9.5 kg bag.

Yesterday trek was supposedly easy; just a long descent to Birenthanti, where it's another 45 minutes walk to Naya Pul to get a taxi and head back to town. But I have discovered earlier on in the trek that I'm better at going uphill than downhill; I prefer uphill more actually. The downhill trekking did awful things to my knees, at nights in the cold (temperature goes down until 1 celcius which is horribly bad for a malaysian girl!) I can't hardly move them at all because they get so stiff and tight. Even now as I write this down they still hurt.

I thought that the descent to Birenthanti will take only 2 hours or 3 hours max. But I was waay wrong. We started at 830 am, and only stopped walking at 130pm. It was a steady and sometimes steep downhill on stone stairs and sandy trails, and I made the mistake of only having hot chocolate for breakfast. We stopped only for minutes on end because all of us were eager to reach the destination. On the way to Birenthanti, after walking for 4 straight hours, I actually passed out for a while... or maybe passed out was too dramatic, I only just fell to my knees. I just wanted to stop walking!

Anyway, I will write a proper entry on this some other time, as I'm going to see the doctor because my knees are seriously hurting. Yesterday I rewarded myself with a hearty meal of sweet and sour fish with rice and I shoveled it up in minutes... considering to order second. We ate only noodle soup up there with the occasional splurge of cheese pizza, and it was so cold I felt hungry most of the times. But I enjoyed the camarederie of all the trekkers we met in the lodges and during the trek, particularly this amazing couple from Chile who were infectiously happy and friendly. Not to mention a cute, smart-assed and intelligent little 6 year old Ashaw from England that I befriended on the trip.

Been reading all of your updates just now and I am itching to start running again!!

Oh, have any of you heard of this guy Pedro from Portugal? I sat next to him on the bus to Pokkhara and he's into triathlons and he knows a couple of malaysian tri athletes (always asking me whether I know a Dino from Malaysia or Singappore) whose names are beyond my knowledge. I think he was placed 5th in the climb-a-thon or towerthon last February or something... I can't remember facts straight because I'm on medication right now!